Shure Microflex Complete Wireless Ensures Continuity for a German District Council

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all areas of private and public life, forcing people to rethink established organizational structures and to adopt new working methods. This also affects governments and politicians, who make important decisions from the federal level down to the local level. The integration of a conference system for political meetings can already be a complex task in normal times - however, a district council meeting with 64 microphone units in a converted gym was a new challenge even for an experienced AV specialist like Kohl UG.

Customer Profile

The district council of the Bad Kissingen region in Germany needed an alternative for the council’s 60 members. The council members typically would meet in the conference rooms of the Bad Kissingen town hall, which are designed for a maximum of 70 participants. In order to comply with social distancing regulations, the officials had to find an alternative and were fortunate to find a gymnasium in the neighboring community of Nüdlingen.

Challenge

Due to coronavirus safety regulations, each council member had to sit at their own table. These were places in the gymnasium in six rows of ten tables each, with sufficient distance between them. In addition, it was important to ensure the freedom of movement of the meeting participants, who had to leave their positions for election and voting questions and take a seat at the central conference table. To accomplish this, the conference technology must work wirelessly. Finally, the sound reinforcement of the press area and public seating was required to support this new venue.

Solution

On May 11, 2020, the first meeting of the Bad Kissingen District Council took place in the Nüdlingen gymnasium. For the conferencing technology, the event technology company from Kohl UG relied on the Shure Microflex® Complete Wireless conference system with 64 wireless MXCW640 conference units and MXC416DF / C Dualflex gooseneck microphones (40 cm). As a combination of microphone, loudspeaker and touchscreen in an integrated, portable unit, these met the council members’ requirements for audio quality and freedom of movement. An MXCWAPT Access Point Transceiver acts as the central control unit, which, in addition to audio routing, also takes on frequency management including automatic channel switching. Sound reinforcement in the press area and audience seating was provided by means of temporarily installed loudspeakers, which are played via a PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring system with a transmitter and two receivers.

Advantages

The reaction of the meeting participants was extremely positive: In addition to the excellent speech intelligibility, particularly considering the acoustically unfavorable gym environment - the district councils particularly praised the simple operation and uncomplicated mobility of the wireless microphone units. The council meetings could be held smoothly and effectively as usual. For upcoming sessions, participants will also use the digital voting functionality of the MXCW640 wireless conference units rather than the traditional show of hands seen at the first council meeting. The new job requirements have also proven to be a complete success for Kohl UG: the rental contracts for the upcoming district council meetings have already been agreed, providing all parties with the necessary flexibility and planning security in uncertain times.